KMT chair says trip to help U.S. avoid war; willing to meet Trump

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) Kuomintang (KMT) Chairperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said Monday her upcoming trip to the United States is aimed at helping keep the U.S. out of an "avoidable war," and she expressed her willingness to meet U.S. President Donald Trump.

Appearing at a press conference in Taipei before departing Monday night, Cheng was asked if she would have a chance to meet with Trump.

Cheng said she would be "very willing" to meet Trump if the opportunity arose, but noted that such a meeting would be unprecedented since Washington severed diplomatic ties with Taipei.

She said that although she does not hold public office and is chair of an opposition party, "we do not rule out any possibility."

Discussing the main goals of the 15-day trip, Cheng said one goal was to address what she called years of "misinformation" by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that had shaped misunderstandings of the KMT among some in the U.S.

"We hope to help our American friends once again understand that, from World War II to today, the KMT has been the most loyal and responsible force capable of maintaining cross-strait peace," said Cheng, whose KMT is Taiwan's main opposition party.

Such a role, she said, could "help prevent the U.S. from being drawn into an avoidable war that would seriously harm its national interests."

Cheng said she also hoped the U.S. will not only recognize the KMT's "important strategic role," but also play "a more critical leadership role" in ensuring cross-strait peace and stability and promoting regional technology integration.

On May 21, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene told CNA in an interview that many American lawmakers and scholars were interested in asking Cheng whether the KMT leadership "is fundamentally changing the party's political orientation."

Greene, the top U.S. envoy to Taiwan, said recent international media reports had created the impression that the KMT "has started to adopt or emulate CCP positions on key diplomatic and security issues," while not considering the interests of the U.S. or Japan.

Cheng's upcoming visit, he said, was an opportunity to address those concerns, in part driven by her own actions since taking the party's helm in November 2025.

After taking office, she repeatedly expressed her willingness to meet Xi and made cross-strait engagement and peace a central theme of her chairmanship, focusing on that more than domestic issues.

She eventually went to China from April 7 to 12 and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing -- the first meeting between the leaders of the KMT and Chinese Communist Party in nearly a decade.

Local media hinted that even some KMT lawmakers were not happy with her emphasis on relations with China.

The KMT and Cheng also spawned doubts in the U.S. over their reluctance to fully back a special defense budget proposed by the DPP and supported by Washington, though KMT lawmakers eventually approved a spending cap that was double their original proposal.

Cheng's first trip to the U.S. since taking office in November 2025 will include stops in San Francisco, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

Apart from meeting members of overseas Taiwanese communities in those cities, Cheng said she will also meet business representatives, academics and think tank experts.

In Washington, she said, meetings are planned with members of Congress and U.S. government officials, including those from the "Taiwan-related system," the Department of State, and the Department of War.

She declined to disclose the names or ranks of those officials, citing past practices and U.S. protocols.